After Friday night’s tough loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers became the first team to be officially eliminated from postseason contention.
With only 16 games remaining, the focus of the team now falls on evaluating the young players they have and seeing who they would like to bring back for next season.
Another way the team plans on improving for next season is through the draft, and according to the LA Times’ Eric Pincus, that selection is virtually guaranteed to be in the top 10:
So Lakers bottom would be 7 heading into lottery on May 20 – lowest pick would be 10
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) March 16, 2014
The Lakers rarely find themselves in this position, but the last time they were in the lottery they took Andrew Bynum, who played a key role in the Lakers two championships in 2009 and 2010.
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While their floor is the tenth pick, there are a lot of teams with similar records, so the last few weeks will go a long way towards deciding who will have the best odds of winning the top pick:
Lakers won’t catch Bucks/Sixers – so teams are ORL/BOS/UTA/SAC/LAL for 3-7 heading into lottery
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) March 16, 2014
With one of the deepest drafts in years, the Lakers will have their pick of a number of players who could step in and immediately help the team.
Kobe Bryant is expecting the Lakers to be contenders next season, making the right draft selection will be crucial towards rebuilding the Lakers back to a contender.
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Kobe Bryant On Change THIS Summer, Jim and Jeanie Buss, Coaching Staff